“In 1985, the Bears put the entire football world on notice that their nine-game winning streak wasn’t a fluke by going to Dallas and pounding the Cowboys, 44-0,” Florio wrote. “In 2011, the Lions can do the same thing with their seven-game winning streak (dating back to last year) by going to Dallas and pounding the Cowboys. A special season in Detroit gets an early exclamation point.”

Florio then followed with a lopsided score prediction: Lions 34, Cowboys 17. While his colleague wasn’t as bold, choosing the Lions to win 31-27, he was more critical during his assessment.

“The Cowboys are winning games they shouldn’t,” Rosenthal wrote. “The offensive line is a work in progress, to put it nicely. The receivers don’t know where to line up. Rob Ryan’s defense is making strides, but this amateur hour stuff won’t work against the juggernaut undefeated Lions. (How great is it to write “juggernaut undefeated Lions” with only a little sarcasm?)”